Catalonia investigates Glovo, Uber Eats and Amazon over courier safety during storms

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Catalonia's Labour Inspectorate has opened an investigation, on its own initiative, into Glovo, Uber Eats and Amazon. It wants to know whether the three protected their delivery riders during the region's recent bouts of severe weather. Each company must hand over its safety protocols for weather alerts by mid-November. Such protocols are a legal requirement, so the question is whether they exist, whether they are any good and whether anyone used them.

Catalan president Salvador Illa defended the move. "Todos nos tenemos que adaptar al cambio climático, también en el ámbito laboral", he said. He also praised supermarkets that shut an hour early during the storms. The probe follows a complaint filed in mid-October by the FSC-CCOO union against Uber Eats and its subcontractors. The union says riders kept delivering during the 6 October storm, under orange and red warnings.

Uber Eats says it suspended service at 21:20 that day. It adds that its app is linked to Aemet, the state weather agency, and closes in any part of Spain under a red alert. Glovo and Uber Eats both say they follow the rules. Amazon's answer is that it has no couriers of its own, since subcontractors handle deliveries, though it does have ways to react to bad weather. If the inspectors find gaps, they can ask for more or open sanction proceedings.